Across the Southwest » Colorado

Great Sand Dunes & Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G ED

Adam Schallau — Sun, 23 May 2010 03:54:38 +0000

I finally had an opportunity to get out and shoot with the Nikon 14-24mm lens in a real world environment. This wasn’t so much a “scientific” test and evaluation as it was a hit and run visit to introduce my mother, visiting from San Antonio, to Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve.

The subject for the afternoon was spring runoff in Medano Creek. The wind was blowing (when is it not blowing?) fiercely and I really wanted to avoid lens changes to keep from getting sand in the camera. I needed to select one lens for the day and decided it was time to go to the Nikon. The flow of the creek and the patterns in the sand screams for an ultra-wide field-of-view.

While I intend to review this lens in detail sometime in the near future, I have to say that I’m very impressed by what I’m seeing in my images so far. The corners, always a weak spot for Canon ultra-wide lenses, are very sharp on the Nikon. My only concern when using the Nikon has been the large, bulbous front element. I’m very happy to report that after being pelted by sand for over an hour, the lens shows no signs of abuse, despite the fact that it’s not (currently) possible to mount a protective filter.

Desert Bighorn – Curecanti Recreation Area

Adam Schallau — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:03:10 +0000

This big guy was definitely aware of me and actually seemed very willing to strike a pose. This photo has been sitting in my archives since last September and I finally got around to working on it this morning. It’s always a wonderful experience to see a magnificent creature like this in the wild, photographing it is a nice bonus!

~Tech details~
Camera Canon EOS 50D
Lens: Canon EF300mm f/4L IS USM lens
Exposure: 1/500 second, f/6.3 and ISO 320
Filters: none

Notes: Processed in Adobe Lightroom

Cumbres & Toltec Railroad – An Early Morning

Adam Schallau — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:11:41 +0000

Engine 484 of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad prepares to leave the station in Antonito, Colorado on a cool September morning.

This was a photo of opportunity. I was on my way to Crested Butte to photograph fall color and had nothing but fall color on the brain. It felt a bit ironic to photograph this magnificent piece of western history, and in color no-less, when golden aspens were only a couple hours away.

~Tech details~
Camera & Lens: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: EF70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens
Exposure: 1/320 second, f/11 and ISO 400
Filters: Hoya HD Circular Polarizer
Notes: hand-held

The Search for Fall Color

Adam Schallau — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 05:24:38 +0000

I recently returned from four days in Colorado in search of fall color. It was a bit more difficult this year to find good color with many areas running a bit late in turning and the color was not as vivid as it has been in the past. Did this have an effect on my photography? It did, but probably not in the way you might expect.

I had several grand landscapes in mind that I would like to have captured, but due to the conditions, I focused (pun intended) more on intimate landscapes. The image below is one such example. This photo was captured on Ohio Pass located in the West Elk Mountains between Gunnison and Crested Butte.

When the conditions don’t work out as planned, it’s important to keep your mind open to other possibilities.

~Tech details~
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: EF70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens
Exposure: 1.6 seconds, f/32 and ISO 400
Filters: none
Notes: processed in Lightroom

Ripples and Light ~ Blue Mesa Reservoir

Adam Schallau — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 05:23:55 +0000

Here’s something a little different for me, a sunset photo (I know, nothing new so far) captured along the shoreline of Blue Mesa Reservoir near Gunnison, Colorado.

~Tech details~
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: EF16-35mm f/2.8L Mark II USM lens
Exposure: 2 seconds, f/22 and ISO 400
Filters: Singh-Ray, Daryl Benson Reverse Graduated Neutral Density 3-stop, 4″x6″ – hand-held

Colorado Wildflowers ~ Lupines on Kebler Pass

Adam Schallau — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:51:37 +0000

Another beautiful day on Kebler Pass near Crested Butte, Colorado. Is there anything more relaxing than wildflowers and aspens in summer? Yes… wildflowers and aspens with the warm sun on your face.

This image is a blend of two exposures, but instead of the normal blend to manage dynamic range, this time two images were used to extend my depth of field from the wildflower in the foreground to the aspen trees in the background.

~Tech details~
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: EF16-35mm f/2.8L Mark II USM lens
Exposure: 1/15 second, f/13 and ISO 320
Filters: none

Farming the San Luis Valley

Adam Schallau — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 03:32:50 +0000

It’s been awhile….again!……since my last entry here on Across the Southwest. It’s not for a lack of material, but rather, a lack of free time. It’s frustrating too because I really enjoy sharing new images and ideas, and getting feedback from both my regular and irregular readers. I’ve kept busy lately with a few photo tours that I’ve given here in northern New Mexico, I took a hot air balloon flight with Pueblo Balloons (which I’ll write about in another post), I’ve been giving photo lessons, and I recently made a trip to Denver to buy a car. This Wednesday I leave for Colorado to photograph fall color.

Here is a shot I created this past Saturday on my return from Denver. I had passed this scene earlier in the day on the way up to denver from Taos and made a mental note to come back and shoot it sometime soon. My plan was to return to Taos via another route, but due to severe thunderstorms I ended up coming back the way I came. This scene can be found in the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado near the town of Fort Garland.

Sunset in the San Luis Valley of Colorado.

~Tech details~

Camera & Lens: Canon EOS 5D Mark II and EF16-35mm f/2.8L Mark II USM lens

Exposure: 0.6 seconds, f/11 and ISO 100

Filters: none

North Clear Creek Falls

Adam Schallau — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:11:08 +0000

If you happen to be driving between the Colorado mountain towns of Creede and Lake City, I highly suggest stopping to take in the beauty of North Clear Creek Falls. This waterfall is is easily accessible being just a short side trip off of Highway 149. Here is a link to Google Maps marking the location of North Clear Creek Falls.

I originally photographed this waterfall in July 2004 and a vertical composition from that shoot was included in Photographing the Southwest – Volume 3, a guide to the natural landmarks of Colorado & New Mexico. I created this photo over the Fourth of July weekend while driving to Crested Butte to photograph wildflowers.

North Clear Creek Falls

.This image of North Clear Creek Falls along with others of western rivers are available for purchase at my website AdamSchallau.com.

~Tech details~

Camera & Lens: Canon EOS 5D Mark II and EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens

Exposure: f/16, 1/10 & 1/5 second and ISO 50

Filters: 82mm Hoya HD circular polarizer & Singh-Ray 3-stop Darryl Benson reverse neutral density graduated filter.

Notes: You may have noticed that under exposure I recorded that this image was captured at both 1/10 & 1/5 of a second. Two frames were captured, one at 1/10 which was the “correct” exposure for the scene and another at 1/5 to give a little more blur to the waterfall. I combined the two exposures in Photoshop to create the image represented here.

The Wonderful World of Wildflowers ~ Wild Geraniums

Adam Schallau — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:31:46 +0000

The wildflower season in Colorado and northern New Mexico is nearing the end and I’ve begun to sort through my new photos. One of the first things I noticed is that I photographed several varieties of wild Geraniums this year. The first image was captured on Kebler Pass near Crested Butte, Colorado and the second image was captured in the Taos Ski Valley in New Mexico.

Both photos and others like them are available for purchase at my website AdamSchallau.com.

~Tech details for image 1~

Camera & Lens: Canon EOS 5D Mark II and EF24-70mm f/2.8 USM lens

Exposure: f/2.8, 1/50 second and ISO 320

Filters: Hoya HD Circular Polarizer

Notes: I used a large collapsible diffuser to shade the flower and a 12mm extension tube to allow close focusing.

~Tech details for image 2~

Camera & Lens: Canon EOS 5D Mark II and EF50mm f/1.8 II lens

Exposure: f/2.8, 1/60 second and ISO 200

Filters: none

Notes: I used a large collapsible diffuser to shade the flower and a 12mm extension tube to allow close focusing.

Print Exhibit at Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve

Adam Schallau — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:29:34 +0000

I recently delivered two prints to Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve. The prints are on display in the Visitor’s Center and will be up until the third week in May 2009. I’d like to thank the National Park Service for making this wonderful space available to artists. I’d also like to thank Park Ranger, Patrick Myers, for his work at the park and for managing the exhibit.

The two images represented here reflect my experiences with the forces of nature that shape the Great Sand Dunes. The first image titled Wind, captures the movement of airborne sand carried by a fierce wind as it crosses ripples in the dunes. In the second image titled Water, Medano Creek has come to life with water provided by the spring snowmelt from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Both images were printed in black & white with a little warming, on watercolor paper using pigment ink.

Please give me a call or contact me using the contact button at the top of this page if you are interested in ordering a print of either image. As always, please click on any image for an expanded view.